First Snow
by Beacon
Summary: The first snow fall always seemed magical, and Katara intended to enjoy it fully. AU Zutara


An: Wheee! I finally finished it! Not that it's long or anything, but just that I finally got around to writing it… Anyway, yes this is my final piece for the holidays, so enjoy everybody!

Disclaimer: I own nothing…

First Snow

It was noisy and crowded, two things that Zuko hated. He didn't know why he had to be at the party, but his uncle had dragged him along anyway, saying something about how he should get into the Christmas spirit and enjoy himself while he was still young. Zuko grumbled and moped around the brightly lit, slightly less crowded kitchen, snatching the occasional chip and chocolate kiss, and refusing to take part in any of the dancing or socializing. It wasn't that there weren't any other teenagers there; it was just that he didn't like any of them.

Song and Jin were annoying; still attempting to flirt even after Zuko had made it clear he was in no way interested in either. Sokka always found a way to put him down, and therefore Zuko avoided the boy like a plague. It wasn't that he couldn't retaliate; it was simply that Zuko was too lazy to start a fight and he would rather not be insulted. And then there was his sister and her friends. Zuko decided that they were reason enough alone not to come to the party. And yet… Zuko sighed and seated himself on a stool by the counter and let his chin drop into his hands. He didn't belong here, he was in no way a people person, and these parties always made him uncomfortable. He sighed and traced a design on the marble tabletop, eyes beginning to become unfocused as his mind wandered.

"Hey, you." Fingers snapped under his noise and Zuko jerked back in surprise, nearly toppling off the high stool. Regaining his balance he glared at the person who had broken his daydreaming, half in annoyance at being caught off guard and half in surprise. Before him stood a girl maybe a year or two younger than he. She had her hands on her slender hips and was raising a single eyebrow in expectation as her blue eyes watched him skeptically.

"Can I help you?" Zuko growled as he glared at the young woman. Her confidence made him nervous, he wasn't good with girls, (hence the fact that he had no girlfriend to speak of). He shifted in his seat and heated up his glare. Maybe if he glared long and hard enough she would go away.

"You can start by passing me the chips like I asked you to before." She stuck out her tongue and laughed, humor lightly up her face nicely. She brushed a few pieces of loose brown hair that had escaped her high ponytail behind her ears and cocked her head expectantly as she waited for the boy to pass her the chips. Zuko roughly shoved her the bowl of salty snacks and watched her out of the corner of his eye as she selected her few and took a large bite. She was pretty, he decided carefully, pretty blue eyes complemented by her blue dress and blue choker around her neck and her figure wasn't too bad either. "Thanks," the girl smiled at him and sat herself on the stool across from him. Zuko mentally groaned. She would probably want to talk to him, try to flirt and see if he wanted to dance. He would have to play the role of the bad guy, again, and ignore her until she went away.

"You don't like parties." It wasn't a question. "Neither do I, too noisy, too many people to talk to." She sighed and smiled at him again when he simply watched her. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not coming on to you, just trying to be friendly." She cleared quickly and then snagged another chip. "My friends dragged me here, how about you?"

"My uncle," Zuko grumbled and took a chip as well. The strange girl laughed softly.

"I see, well it's been nice talking to you, and thank you for giving me the excuse of 'being stopped by a guy to talk' so I don't have to lie to my friends about why I took so long." She winked and stood up. "Bye,"

"…" Zuko just gave her a lame wave of the hand as she flitted back through the crowd to disappear into the living room. Zuko sighed and shook his head. Silly girl, he thought, weird too.

X

"There you are," Suki reprimanded as Katara tapped her on the shoulder. "I was wondering where you had gone."

Katara shrugged. "Sorry, stopped to talk to a cute guy."

Suki lifted an eyebrow. "Oh really? What's he like, is he tall, is he cute, oh, is he as hot as your brother 'cause if he is, you should totally date him."

Katara slapped Suki playfully on the shoulder. "Yeah, he's tall, or seems to be at least, he's not bad to look at either, but no! I'm not going to go ask a complete stranger out. Oh, and Suki? Never tell me about how hot Sokka is again, or I'm going to have to hurt you."

"K…" Suki mumble and then nudged Katara. "Hey look, isn't that Jet?"

"Where?" Katara whirled around eyes searching for her ex boyfriend and yelped as she found him. "Damn it, I can't deal with him right now." Katara whined and Suki giggled.

"He's looking over here Katara," Suki whispered and Katara wracked her mind quickly for an escape plan. "Here, maybe if we look like we're deep in conversation he'll leave us alone."

"Right," Suki agreed, and turned toward her younger friend quickly. "Alright, so last week… isn't that your brother?" Suki trailed off as she looked over her shoulder. "Should I go talk to him? I really should, shouldn't I?"

"No, no stay and talk to me Suki, I don't want to deal with Jet right now, please, just stay here."

Suki frowned delicately. "But he's with another girl, he's with Yue!" She squealed in anger.

"Exactly, he's busy, wait until he's done with her and then go talk to her." Katara urged, sparing a quick glance at Jet who was chatting with one of his friends but obviously had his focus on her.

"But, he looks so happy with her…" Suki whined and turned her pouting brown eyes to Katara. "And now… now Ty Lee's there too!"

" He doesn't even like her, but now he wouldn't be able to pay any attention to you if you went over. But I'm here, I'll even let you tell me about how cool my brother his if you stay." Katara wheedled and Suki seemed to resign for a full three seconds and opened her mouth to start gushing before her eyes suddenly blazed.

"What now?" Katara groaned recognizing the fire in her friend's eyes.

"Toph…" Suki growled.

"She's just twelve, why would Sokka be interested in her?"

"Yeah, I guess you're… he's touching her, he touched her shoulder. Sorry Katara but I'm going over there." Suki's eyes narrowed and she mocked pushing up her sleeves.

"Wait, no Suki, come back, please… Suki get back here!" Katara called after her and then stomped her foot. "You owe my so big for this…"

"Katara. Fancy meeting you here." An all to familiar voice addressed her and Katara grit her teeth as she turned around.

"Oh hi Jet," Katara managed to smile as she looked up at the handsome boy. "How are you?"

"Alright, but you know Katara, I've been thinking." _Oh no here it comes,_ Katara winced. "I haven't been the same without you baby. Maybe we should try to work this little break up out and get back together."

"Ehahaha, you think so?" Katara laughed nervously. "'Cause I'm doing just fine right now myself." This was going to be a long party…

x

"Uncle, I'm going to get some fresh air outside," Zuko muttered to his uncle as he brushed past him. "The music is giving me a headache."

"Alright Zuko," Iroh waved to him as he pasted by. "Enjoy yourself."

Zuko scoffed but continued on, passing through the living room. It was even louder in there than it was in kitchen and Zuko winced and looked around. There was Sokka, with four girls, and Zuko veered quickly to the left as to not be seen by the said boy. As he dodged through the people to get the door, Zuko caught sight of the girl who had spoken to him in the kitchen. She was talking another guy, tall with shaggy, light brown hair, and she seemed extremely uncomfortable; a large smile that Zuko could tell was fake plastered on her face. She kept brushing her hair nervously behind her ear as she spoke and she seemed to be looking anywhere but the boy's face.

Zuko felt a bit bad for her and he hesitated in his dash for the door. Should he help her out?

"You see," the boy's voice drifted to Zuko's ears and he latched on. "Without you, I'm nothing baby," he reached out and stroked the girl's cheek as she winced. "I know this is sudden, but c'mon, we were great together."

"Well, you know, Jet, I'm just so busy, I really don't have time for a boyfriend. At all. I barely even have time for my family." She laughed nervously and once again fiddled with her hair.

"I'm sure you could work some thing out, c'mon Kat, let's just… who the hell are you?" Jet snarled as Zuko placed an arm around Katara's shoulder and pulled her loosely to his chest.

"Me?" Zuko asked innocently and the girl's furious eyes as she looked up at him. As he held her gaze he pleaded silently for her to play along. She seemed to understand and suddenly all the anger left her eyes and they took on a gentler look.

"Hey!" She squealed and wrapped her arms around Zuko's chest in a tight hug. "It's so good to see you, I didn't know you were going to be here." She improved as she turned back to Jet. "Jet, this is my cousin. Uh.. Cousin, this is Jet."

"Hello," Zuko said pleasantly though he added an edge to his voice that he thought one might find in an over protective cousin. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too," Jet mumbled slightly miffed that he and the girl had been interrupted.

"Well," Katara spoke up. "If you don't mind, I'm going to go catch up with my cousin. Bye Jet!"

"Bye," he muttered and sent Zuko a glare as Katara grabbed Zuko's hand and pulled him toward the door. Zuko gladly followed.

The night air was fresh and crisp, and light snow had begun to fall. As they cleared the blaring porch lights Katara twirled out onto the lawn, spinning around with her arms spread and lifting her face to the sky. Zuko watched her indifferently as he settled comfortably on a garden bench. The girl giggled and stopped spinning. Her blue eyes found his amber ones and she smiled. "Thanks for what you did in there. I really needed the rescue."

"I could tell. You're ex, I suppose?"

"Yeah, I broke up with him about two weeks ago." The girl flopped down onto the bench next to him and extended her hand. "I'm Katara by the way."

"Zuko," he replied and lightly took her extended hand in his own. Her small hand had already become slightly cold, and he squeezed it ever to gently to warm it up. She grinned at him.

"It's nice to meet you." She said and scooted closer, turning her face once more to the sky. "I love when it snows," she commented casually, and Zuko couldn't help but be fascinated by the tilt of her neck and the sparkle in her eyes. She stuck her tongue out to catch the falling snow, and Zuko tilted his back as well. "It's magical," Katara continued and looked back at him.

Zuko nodded in agreement and extended his hand to catch the snow in his palm. A single flake landed in his hand and he swore he could make out its little details before it began to melt. He lifted his hand again to catch more, but Katara stopped him. "Just let it snow," she smiled and lowered his hand, keeping her hand lightly in his own even after they had hit the bench. Zuko swallowed carefully and then looked back at Katara.

She had a secretive smile on her face and she leaned slightly closer. "You know," she began. "I've heard the most romantic times of the year to kiss are on the first snow fall and on Christmas Eve. Seeing as it's two in one tonight, it should be doubly as romantic. Care to test the theory?" Her blue eyes searched his own, an air of slight nervousness in her own, but then Zuko returned her smile and leaned closer as well.

"Sure," he breathed over her lips and they closed the distance between them.

The kiss was slow and gentle, but by the time they pulled back, Zuko felt slightly light headed and he couldn't help but simply grin at Katara who seemed pretty happy herself. "I guess you were right."

"I guess so," She laughed and then moved even closer so that they sat side by side, still keeping their hands intertwined. They stayed that way for a little while longer, enjoying each other's company and the first snow before the returned to the house to warm up. Neither really minded the noise anymore.


End file.
